Panthers rookie QB Bryce Young on HC Frank Reich's firing: 'We all take ownership'
Carolina Panthers (1-10) rookie quarterback Bryce Young has a new head coach just 11 games into his NFL career.
The Panthers and team owner David Tepper relieved Frank Reich of his duties as head coach Monday, a move made just over halfway through his first season at the helm. While Reich was ultimately the fall guy for Carolina’s struggles, particularly on offense, Young admitted Wednesday that everyone involved could have been better and needs to be better moving forward.
“We all take ownership,” Young said, via Panthers Wire. “Especially offensively, it’s all of us. I think we all look in the mirror. There’s all things we could’ve done better. We all wanted to do better. It’s a collective unit. There’s no finger-pointing from players, coaches, nothing. We all could’ve been better, and we have to improve.”
Carolina made the decision to fire Reich s following the 17-10 Week 12 defeat to the Tennessee Titans (4-7) this past Sunday. Reich, tasked with fixing Carolina’s offense and developing Young, whom the organization parted ways with four draft picks and star wideout D.J. Moore to take with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, failed to get his side of the ball going.
Bryce Young owns up to offense’s struggles
The Panthers rank 30th in yards per game (265.9) and 29th in points per game (15.7). In the two games after Reich took back the play-calling duties from Brown, the offense scored just 20 points combined. Young has struggled, throwing for 1,877 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions on 61.7% passing. His 32.0 QBR is second to last among starting quarterbacks. Young has been under duress all season as Carolina has surrendered 43 sacks, fourth most in the NFL.
Young said that the entire team should be held accountable for the struggles.
“We all share in that,” Young said. “We all talk, we all feel like… again, you never wanna see people lose their job… Wanted to, of course, come in — especially this being a new team — wanted to come in and conquer things together and accomplish our goals together. We all take responsibility in that not being the case.”
Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will become the team’s play caller, with senior assistant Jim Caldwell serving as his special adviser. Tabor wasted no time making changes to the staff, letting go of quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley.